Always Beautiful
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: Can you do one in the Enchanted Forest where Regina is 16 and Cora decides it's time for her first haircut after she sees Regina kissing the new Stable Boy. Regina of course is not happy about losing her almost body length hair. Cora doesn't have her heart in this one – EvilQueensDaughterRapunzel


_Can you do one in the Enchanted Forest where Regina is 16 and Cora decides it's time for her first haircut after she sees Regina kissing the new Stable Boy. Regina of course is not happy about losing her almost body length hair. Cora doesn't have her heart in this one – EvilQueensDaughterRapunzel_

_TW for evil Cora. I don't own Once or its characters. Apologies for any mistakes. Hope you enjoy :) _

Cora stalks across the estate in search of her errant daughter. Regina was meant to be at her etiquette lesson fifteen minutes ago. Cora will make a princess of her daughter one way or another. Her eldest stands no chance at being queen though she will still be powerful – Cora will make sure of that. Regina however will be a princess if not a queen. She just needs her daughter to focus. The fuming woman crosses into the stables where she knows Regina is wasting her time away.

What she sees when she walks in only enrages her further.

Her daughter is standing there kissing the stable boy. A stable boy. _Foolish girl_ Cora thinks with a snarl. This simply will not do at all. She is not raising Regina and going through all she went to for her daughter to wind up the wife of some common peasant. No. Her daughter _will_ be a princess. Cora will make sure she knows it.

She marches into the stable before ripping her daughter away from the new stable boy. She fixes him with a glare and he gets the message and runs. Cora turns to her daughter with a furious expression that causes Regina to shrink back. "You're late for your lesson," Cora snarls.

"Sorry mother. I-I must have lost track of time," Regina stammers dropping her head and hiding behind her hair. The sight has Cora fuming. She looks over her daughter. She's snivelling and hiding. She's kissing stable boys. She looks a mess. She's let this go on too long and she's had enough of Regina's childish fantasies.

"Forget your lesson. It's time for a haircut."

Regina pales before looking at her hair which falls down past her knees when brushed. She loves her hair. "No mother please don't."

Cora tugs at a portion of the hair before dragging Regina back to the castle. She ignores Regina's protests. She let Regina go around with this hair for too long. It's time to make her look like a princess.

She throws her daughter onto a stool. Regina sobs as she sees the scissors her mother picks up. Her commotion causes Zelena and Henry to run out. Zelena takes in the sight noting her distress with a pleased smile. She's always envied Regina. She's always felt so much rage towards her. Zelena knows that one day she will be a powerful sorceress but she will never be a queen. Regina will. What annoys her most is that her younger sister takes it for granted. She frolics around the stables and holds onto childish dreams when she should be focussing on being a proper princess. She smiles when she sees the scissors knowing it means her sister will be punished.

"Are you going to shave her bald Mother?" Zelena asks with a malicious grin that mirrors her mother's.

Cora scoffs, "No child. I am simply going to make sure Regina finally looks like a princess. This first haircut is long overdue. Now sit still Regina or I'll make you."

"I can make her," Zelena offers. She's been practising her magic and she loves to use it to torment her sister.

"Oh I'm sure that won't be necessary darling," Cora says as she holds her youngest still before snipping at the hair pooled around her feet.

Regina instantly begins to struggle and squirm away. "Mother please stop!" she cries as she tries to wriggle away from those offending scissors.

Henry frowns at his daughter's distress. He has never been on board with pressuring Regina to be a princess. Sadly he also knows the price for going against his wife and often backs down for fear of how she might use her magic to hurt him. He knows it's self-serving and cowardly but he's never been one to stand up. Today he watches Cora try to hold Regina down and knows he can't sit back any longer.

"Cora stop. You're hurting her," he protests.

She glares at him, "And you coddle her. She's sixteen Henry. It's time she learned."

He sighs deflated before stepping back. He can see the disappointment etched across Regina's features. He wishes he wasn't used to that look. He's a coward. He turns away so he doesn't have to watch.

Regina sobs as her father turns his back on this scene. Her mother's hands glow and Regina knows all too well what that means. Beside her, her sister cackles wickedly and another tear slips down her cheek. She closes her eyes and wishes, not for the first time, that she was part of a different family and that one day someone might rescue her from all this. She dreams of love and happiness rather than the indifference, anger and hate she gets in this household.

Magic envelops her holding her still. No matter how hard she struggles she cannot move. In the end she gives up fighting. This is the life her mother is pushing her towards. A life where she doesn't choose. A life where she is a princess. She just wants to be happy. She can hear the snipping of the scissors and see her hair falling around her. She can hear her sister laughing and making snide comments.

She tunes it all out. She stares straight ahead and watches the flames curling in the fireplace. She stops crying. She's done enough crying in front of them and she won't give them the satisfaction any longer. She watches the flames. They have the power she does not. They're free and curl and flicker in any way they wish. She wishes she had their power. If she did she could run away to a place where no-one could hurt her.

Finally her mother stops. Regina raises her hand and finds that her one body length curls stops at her shoulders. She sits still as her mother brushes her hair with force. It takes all of her control not to flinch at the harshness of her mother's strokes as she works out the tangles. Her body feels lighter without it and it feels strange. She feels the loss. That hair was one of the few things she had some control over and now it's gone.

Cora finally releases her and she walks slowly out. She won't let them see her run. She waits until she's outside and then she lets herself breathe. As she does her tears fall. She runs her hand through her much shorter hair and sobs. _What if I'm not beautiful anymore? _It may be a vain thing to think but Regina knows this was a punishment for a kiss and she can't help but think her mother did it for that reason.

She runs to the stables searching for Daniel and finds him mucking out the last horse. "Daniel," she cries. He drops his shovel when he sees her and gasps. He wipes off his hands before moving over to her. His fingers play with her cropped locks, "What did she do to you?"

This is the moment where she fears she will lose her one spot of happiness. He is the only light in her life. He gives her hope and love and with him she dreams she will one day be able to escape this life. She sniffs back another sob, "She said I needed to look like a princess."

He sighs as he winds his finger round one of the curls before looking at his secret love, "Well you still look beautiful to me."

"Even now?" she asks gesturing to her freshly cut hair.

He smiles at her before giving her a loving kiss. He holds her tightly before kissing the crown of her head too, "You'll always be beautiful to me."

_Thanks for reading :) _


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